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Castello, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Castello, Giovanni Battista kästĕlˈlō [key], c.1509–c.1569, Italian painter and architect; called Il Bergamasco to distinguish him from Bernardo Castello, who also worked in Genoa. Giovanni was...

pear

(Encyclopedia)pear, name for a fruit tree of the genus Pyrus of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a pome. The common pear (P. communis) is one of the earliest cultivated of fruit trees, both in i...

Al-Battani

(Encyclopedia)Al-Battani ălˌbətēˈnēəs [key], b. before 858, d. 929, Arab astronomer and mathematician. He is best known in astronomy for his improvements and corrections of the Ptolemaic tradition. His Kitab...

Moroni, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Moroni, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēˈstä mōrôˈnē [key], c.1524–1578, Italian portrait painter of the Brescian school; pupil of Il Moretto. Surpassing his teacher in the ability to c...

Piranesi, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Piranesi, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēˈstä pēränāˈzē [key], 1720–78, Italian etcher and architect. The greater part of his life was spent in Rome, where he made etchings of the bui...

Veeck, Bill

(Encyclopedia)Veeck, Bill (William Louis Veeck, Jr.), 1914–86, American baseball executive, b. Chicago. The son of an owner of the Chicago Cubs, Veeck began his executive career with the Milwaukee Brewers of the ...

Rinehart, Mary Roberts

(Encyclopedia)Rinehart, Mary Roberts rīnˈhärt [key], 1876–1958, American novelist, b. Pittsburgh. A graduate nurse, she married Dr. Stanley M. Rinehart in 1896. The first of her many mystery stories, The Circu...

açaí

(Encyclopedia)açaí äˌsäēˈ [key], tree, Euterpe oleracea, of the family Arecaceae (palm family) and its fruit, grown chiefly in Pará state in the Amazon region of Brazil. The tre...

mangosteen

(Encyclopedia)mangosteen mangˈgəstēnˌ [key], the edible fruit of Garcinia mangostana, of the family Clusiaceae (Guttiferae), an evergreen tree native to SE Asia. The purple fruit is similar to an orange in size...

nut, in botany

(Encyclopedia)nut, in botany, a dry one-seeded fruit which is indehiscent (i.e., does not split open along a definite seam at maturity). Among the true nuts are the acorn, chestnut, and hazelnut. Commonly the word ...